What Not To Wear: Sports Edition

Although I don't normally take special requests at the sandwich shoppe, I must mention this next story.

No Sweatshirt For You!

Earlier this week MLB came down on Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon and told him he couldn't wear a hooded sweatshirt in the dugout. He had to wear one of the MLB authorized on field gear provided to him. The sweatshirt has been a staple of Maddon's dugout presence since the Rays post-season run a couple of years ago. Now, conveniently when the Rays are playing in Boston, MLB says he can't wear the hoodie. He took the decision in stride, playing off the edict from the head office with a couple of jokes.

Now, after the story made the rounds on ESPN and other media outlets, MLB is somewhat embarrassed by the position they took and has retracted its statement and is allowing Maddon and other managers, should they please to wear the hoodies.

The crazy thing about this story is that managers in all sports dress poorly for the most part. They often can't decide if they want to be on the field, in a boardroom or just stepped out of the 1970's. Coaches should have one of three options;

1 - dress like a player. This works best in baseball, although George Karl did try it on the court.

2 - dress in a suit. This is good for hockey, basketball and some football coaches if they want that throwback look.

3 - dress in gear provided by the league. This is how the NFL works for the most part. Reebok decides what gear they want to promote and that is what the staff wear. The NHL (also sponsored by Reebok) does this with the training staff, but not the coaching staff. I think this might work well for the NHL seeing as most of their coaches dress poorly.

So how would you like coaches to dress?